Ah, the nostalgic enchantment of these ruins. Ruins not of a palace, but of an entire palatial city: Medinat az-Zahra, the splendid one, dwelling of rulers and siege of the Caliphate.
Up the steps and through the archways, your guide will evoke for you a place of magnificence, unrivalled in Western Europe. He will tell how it was built, and why it was so heartbreakingly short-lived.
Listen, look. Let your fancy deck the stones you see with splendour, then multiply the vision tenfold. And like Prince Caspian, you will feel glad it once existed, even if it is all over.
